Virginia 75, Syracuse 56

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The No. 12 Virginia Cavaliers clinched their first Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title since 1981 with a 75-56 win over No. 4 Syracuse Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena.

The Cavaliers outscored the Orange 48-28 in the second half en route to the 19-point win.

Virginia guard Malcolm Brogdon led all scorers with 19 points while forward Akil Mitchell added 12 points in his last home game.

The Cavaliers (25-5, 16-1 ACC) trailed just once in the second half when Syracuse took a 32-31 lead with 16:16 to play. Virginia answered with a bevy of 3-pointers; the Cavaliers made 8 of 16 for the game, seven in the second half.

Guard Tyler Ennis and forward C.J. Fair led the Orange with 13 points apiece but combined to make just 8 of 24 field goal attempts.

Syracuse led 28-27 after 20 minutes as both teams were about as even as you could get from the field. The Orange shot 42 percent while Virginia shot 43 percent.

The big advantage in the first half came on the boards as the Cavaliers outrebounded Syracuse 20-13 and totaled 11 second-chance points on nine offensive rebounds.

The Orange grabbed their largest lead of the first half at 8-3 with 15:20 to play. Virginia answered with a 9-0 run to go up 12-8 before taking their largest lead of seven with 6:40 to play. Syracuse answered with a 13-5 run to close out the half.

Mitchell led Virginia with eight points and seven rebounds in the first half.

Syracuse (26-3, 13-3) was led by Ennis, who scored nine points.

NOTES: This was the first meeting between the teams since 2008, when Syracuse topped Virginia 73-70 at the Carrier Dome. ... Virginia is the only team in the country to improve its win total in each of the past five seasons. ... Syracuse forward C.J. Fair ranks seventh in the ACC in scoring at 16.5 points per game. ... Virginia joins the 1998-99 Duke Blue Devils as the only ACC team to win 16 conference games. ... The 19-point loss was Syracuse's worst of the season.